 William Lindeman was born Wilhelm Lindemann on March 28, 1794 in Jöhstadt, in eastern Saxony on the Bohemian border.He was the third of six sons of Karl Gotthilf Lindemann, a preacher and rector of the municipal school.Wilhelm learned cabinetmaking—alone among his brothers in not attending university—and in 1812 moved to Vienna where he worked as a fine furniture maker.